A Snowstorm in May

Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio (Plume trade paperback, 25 September 2012).


"Blackberry winter" is a colloquial term used to describe a cold snap that occurs in late spring, when the blackberries are in bloom.


In Seattle, the second of May 1933, there was a terrible snowstorm.  Young single mother Vera Ray, who can't afford child-care, kisses her three-year-old son Daniel good night and leaves him alone while she goes to work as a hotel chambermaid.  She tried taking him with her once, but her supervisor was not pleased.  When she finally returns home the next day, Daniel has disappeared and the only sign of him she can find is his snow-covered Teddy bear, not far from their apartment.

Switch to the present, also in May.  A severe blizzard covers Seattle, bringing the city to a standstill.
Reporter Claire Aldridge, of the Seattle Herald receives a call from her editor, asking her to do a story comparing the current storm to the one in 1933. 

At first reluctant, she finally agrees, and during her background research Claire stumbles across the story of Daniel's disappearance, never solved, and during her quest for the truth, discovers that she has a connection to Vera and Daniel.  

The book goes back and forth between Claire and Vera,  and we slowly learn the reasons for Vera's desperate financial straits and Claire's eagerness to do the story.  Although neither is shocking, the
details of both are described in thorough detail. 

This is a charming tale, mysterious and romantic, and the surprise conclusion does not disappoint.


FTC full disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for a review copy of the book. 

Nothing But the Truth

The Other Woman by Hank Philippi Ryan (Forge hardcover, 4 September 2012).

"Jane Ryland had thrown up after the verdict."

 That verdict had cost her her job, and some of her dignity, but not her integrity. 

She'd been going places as a television news reporter, until she was asked to reveal a source and refused.  But integrity didn't pay the bills, and after a few weeks of feeling sorry for herself, she'd accepted a job with the Boston Register, vowing to scoop her former employer.

Her first assignment was to interview Moira Lassiter, wife of a senate candidate and former governor.  Mrs. Lassiter seemed to have disappeared from view, and her staff was stonewalling attempts to talk to her.

Meanwhile, Jane's friend Jake Brogan, a homicide detective, was dealing with what appeared to be a series of murders near bridges around Boston.  After only two deaths, the media was already attributing them to the "Bridge Killer",  although Jake's instincts tell him they're not related.

When they meet tracking down a witness, Jane and Jake discover that their assignments are related and begin to compare notes.  It's difficult to provide more plot details without spoilers, but be warned that you won't be able to read "just one more chapter".  Don't start this book at bedtime!

Emmy-winning investigative reporter Ryan knows the news business firsthand, and writes about it with expertise.  Of course her skill as a suspense author (for which she's also won a number of awards) helps a great deal, as does her ability to create believable, multi-dimensional characters.

The attraction between reporter and detective creates a problem for someone who's trying to protect her professional integrity.  Although Jake understands this, he does realize the potential for a great relationship, and attempts to convince Jane that it's possible to pursue it without compromising that integrity.

This is just a great, well-told story that you won't want to put down.  Don't start it at bedtime.





Please visit Crime Fiction Collective, where Ms. Ryan is guest-blogging today.  Also, if you leave a comment over there, you'll be entered to win a first edition of The Other Woman.

Ashes to Ashes

Valley of Ashes by Cornelia Read (Grand Central Publishing hardcover, 14 August 2012).

Attempting to be the perfect wife and mother, Madeline Dare follows her husband Dean to Boulder, Colorado, where he's landed a promising new job.  Dean and Madeline (or "Bunny", as he calls her) are now the parents of twin girls, India and Parrish. 

Although ridiculously happy at first, things become difficult  Dean's position involves a great deal of traveling, which makes Madeline a single parent a good deal of the time. As a result, she's constantly exhausted and the house is constantly a shambles.  Dean, who never used to be bothered by an untidy home, is suddenly very critical of Madeline's housekeeping. She  knows no one in Boulder except a few of Dean's co-workers, and her exhaustion and loneliness is wearing on her.

She's elated when she's offered a job reviewing restaurants for the local paper; even though it's not terribly exciting, it's a break from house and toddlers.  But when a series of arson fires break out in the area and Madeline becomes drawn into the investigation, she naturally becomes more involved than is safe.

Madeline Dare is an amazing character:  she's an intelligent and strong woman.  Until the move to Boulder, she was also fiercely independent, with a merciless, caustic wit.   Read writes Madeline in the first person, so it's always been easy for the reader to identify with her, especially women.
With the fourth book in the series, empathizing with Madeline is even easier.  Part of it is because we know her better, but Read's communication of what she's experiencing is absolutely masterful.

I read Valley of Ashes in its entirety on the long flight home from Montréal.  Consuming the whole book in one sitting certainly enhanced the sense of being in the story, since there was no real emerging from it until the end.  For almost five hours, I was Madeline Dare. 

If you've read the first three books in the series, you'll understand, and you should rush out and pick this up immediately.  If you haven't read the earlier books, it can stand alone.  Rush out and pick it up anyway.



FTC Full Disclosure: I purchased this book.

Just finished reading...

The Perfect Suspect by Margaret Coel.*

Margaret Coel is well known for her Wind River mystery series (now numbering 15 titles), which take place on the real Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming, and feature sleuths Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley.

The Perfect Suspect, however, is part of a completely different series featuring journalist Catherine McLeod, which takes place in Denver.

The story begins with Denver police detective Ryan Beckman facing off with her lover, David Mathews. They've been having an affair, we learn, which David has broken off. Ryan has gone to his home to ask him to reconsider. He refuses, and Ryan shoots him.

We learn this in the first sentence of the book, so this is not a plot spoiler.

What Beckman doesn't realize until she's leaving Mathews' house is that she's been seen, though she doesn't know by whom. Meanwhile, Catherine McLeod gets an anonymous phone call at the newspaper office naming the detective as the killer.

Knowing the identity of the killer at the beginning of the book doesn't make this book any less suspenseful or enjoyable. The plot becomes an elaborate game of cat-and-mouse between journalist and detective.

Of course, since it's a Catherine McLeod mystery, we must assume that Catherine wins the game. But we don't know for sure until the end of the book if Catherine succeeds in proving that Beckman is the killer. Nor do we know whether or not Beckman gets away with her crime.

This gripping mystery keeps the reader guessing all the way through, and the answer is not revealed until the very end. Catherine is a wonderful character, and it's to be hoped that there will be more books about her!


*FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher, who sent me a copy of the book for review purposes.

Just finished reading...

Whose Hand? by Judith Yates Borger.*

Journalist Skeeter Hughes is the quintessential single working mom. She has two daughters aged nine and 14 and is separated from her husband, Michael. One might even call her typical, if her job didn't include dumpster-diving and being threatened by criminals.

Skeeter works for the Minneapolis Citizen, and as this book begins, she is meeting with a retired veteran called BJ, who claimed to have caught a human hand while fishing in Lake Harriet the previous October. At first Skeeter is skeptical; this is February, and the man shows all the signs of being a drinker. But after listening to his entire story, her instincts tell her to believe him.

When she returns to her office, she learns that has just been appointed the paper's first Missing Persons reporter. On her first assignment, she is given the names of three missing people: Pace Palmer, a nurse who hadn't returned from vacation; Yuri Yudeshenka, a retired furrier; and Amber Thomas, an eighteen-year-old girl. Perhaps the hand belonged to one of them?

Skeeter is dedicated and persistent, and though she's uncertain of the veracity of BJ's story, and has very little to go on in the missing persons cases, she knows how to dig. Knowing the precariousness of being a journalist these days, she is determined not to provide any reason to be considered expendable.

Borger has created a strong, likeable, and very believable protagonist in Skeeter. She has an amazing hand with descriptions:

I studied the crags in the old man's wind-burned face. His gold and silver hair was pulled into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, leaving his bald head open to the elements. The ragged collar of a black T-shirt peeked through the v-neck of a dirty blue-green sweater with a run in the left sleeve. Nicotine had stained the dirty fingernails on the left thumb and forefinger he used to grip his ceramic coffee mug.

This is not the only Skeeter Hughes novel; it's the sequel to Where's Billie? (2009). Hopefully, there will be a third volume in the series soon.


*FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the author, who sent me an e-book for review purposes.
*